Yuhua Bao, Ph.D. is an assistant professor in the Department of Public Health, Weill Cornell Medical College. This proposed NIMH Mentored Research Scientist Career Development (K01) award will provide the necessary support to facilitate Dr. Bao's successful transition to an independent mental health services investigator, with the career goal of providing much-needed evidence to inform policies aimed at integrating evidence-based mental health treatment in general medical settings. The proposed training plan includes a series of learning activities to enable the candidate to gain knowledge of mental health conditions and treatment in general medical settings, to develop skills and expertise in designing and evaluating performance measures as well as payment policies that incentivize evidence-based mental health care in medical settings, and to develop skills and experience in assessing stakeholder acceptance on incentive mechanism designs. Building on these learning activities, research projects will be conducted in two different medical settings: home health care and primary care. In each project, guided by a conceptual framework, data analysis based on previous and on-going research studies will be conducted to design alternative payment and performance evaluation systems that are consistent with the costs of providing evidence- based depression care management. Provider and payer acceptance of these incentive systems will be assessed by estimating provider-specific results, and by primary data collection through semi-structured group interviews (home health care) and a survey that will be designed using decision analytic methods (primary care). The proposed training and research activities are designed to provide Dr. Bao with the additional experience and resources necessary to support the submission of a successful R01 grant by the end of the award to design and evaluate incentives for integrated, evidence-based mental health care in the general medical payment systems that are undergoing continuous evolvement. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Significant gaps exist in the quality of care for Americans with mental illness. A significant barrier to implementation of evidence-based, integrated mental health care in medical settings, where about 50% of all mental health care takes place, is a misaligned payment system. This K01 application proposes a series of training and research activities to enable Dr. Yuhua Bao's successful transition to an independent mental health services investigator whose work provides much-needed evidence to inform policies aimed at integrating evidence-based mental health treatment in medical care.